Touch Drawing became a moving meditation for me. I began to play with the rhythms of my hands moving on the page. It seemed like magic as different marks would appear on the page when I just let my hands and fingers dance across the surface. I loved being able to move my hands simultaneously or separately as if playing an instrument. When it was over, I would just lift the page off and set it aside without even really looking at it until later.

Before I learned Touch Drawing, I knew that I must find a way to do my art without the pain and fear of ruining it. I knew that this pain and fear was somehow a mind-body connection based on past experiences or old programs running in my head. I felt I should be able to talk myself out of feeling that way but during the process of creating an art piece those feelings would return and gravely overshadow the experience. Touch Drawing changed that for me.

The experience was so freeing that in the first 18 months I did over 500 drawings. It felt like the force was so powerful I had no choice. As I allowed myself to surrender to the process, I began to focus on the sound of rolling the paint onto the board, the sound of the tissue paper and to feel the texture under my hands as I smoothed it. My awareness of everything about the action of creating increased. I began to see images on the paper like I when I was a child staring at the texture of the drywall in my bedroom during my daily naptime. I began to experience myself as a vessel or a conduit for this force of aliveness moving through me. No longer was my drawing or painting about me or a reflection of me. It was just what it was. I was able to view my ‘finished’ pieces as a neutral witness without needing to interpret them.

Today I continue to use Touch Drawing as part of my process and have been able to do all of my art with that spirit no matter what medium I am using. The sacred free play has become a part of me. I am eternally grateful to Deborah for allowing the Spirit of Touch Drawing to express so freely through her and to so graciously sharing it with all of us. She has touched the lives of many and that has rippled out in ways that cannot be fully known.

In 2002 I went to British Columbia and meditated for 6 solid months. (www.ishaya.org) During that time I remembered the essence of my true nature and now experience an eternal and exquisite inner peace. I currently teach meditation classes and give public talks on Consciousness and the Nature of Inner Peace. I continue Touch Drawing as part of my process and it all feels as integrated and essential as breath to me.

Can I do anything to make the tissue paper drawings stronger?
Can I add color to my Touch Drawings after they are done?

It can be very fulfilling to bring your raw, spontaneous images into a more fully actualized form. Although the tissue paper that I recommend for Touch Drawing is delicate and translucent, there are ways you can strengthen it. If you like the translucent quality of a drawing, you can get it laminated at a copy shop. Tissue paper can also be mounted on a heavier surface like poster board, railroad board, foam core, mat board or canvas. This makes the image much brighter, firmer and longer lasting. Once mounted, it becomes a strong surface on which to embellish your drawing with color.

Take care in selecting which drawings to enhance with extra color. A favorite drawing that has a sense of completeness may not be improved by the addition of color. The mounting itself will give it more contrast and presence and may be all that is needed. Then again, an image that does not seem quite complete offers you room to play with color. A ‘ho-hum’ image may just come alive with the right touches of color.

It is better to wait at least a day for the drawings to dry before mounting or coloring them. If you want to mount one while it is still wet, you can do so if you place it on the mounting surface wet side down. The drawing will show almost as well as if it was mounted paint-side up.

There are two ways to mount the paper. One is to use spray glue. Be sure to do this in a very well ventilated place. This material is very toxic. The other approach is to use clear acrylic paint medium or montage glue. With a large paintbrush or sponge brush, cover the surface of the mounting board with the medium. Then gently lay the drawing on top of the wet surface. It is easier if you have someone to help you stretch it evenly out and lay it flat. Put a clean sheet of tissue paper on top of the drawing to protect it while you rub gently from the center out. This adheres the paper to the board and pushes out air bubbles. Then take the clean sheet off. When the clear medium has dried, color can easily be added to the surface with pastels, chalks, markers, oil pastels, colored tissue paper, acrylics or oil paints. You could even put some color under the drawing before you mount it. This will glow through the paper from behind after the medium has made the tissue more transparent. Or cut out images from other sources and montage into your drawing.

If you would like a glossier finish, you can gently brush another layer of medium over the surface of the drawing when you have completed coloring it. If you use a large mounting board, two drawings can be mounted side by side, or several drawings can be cut and montaged into one larger image. If you use a lightweight railroad or poster board, you can cut into different shapes. For instance, a face can be mounted and cut to form a wearable mask.

There is no limit to the creative variations you can explore with coloring and mounting. Think of it as your own cosmic coloring book!

top